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03-11-2022, 07:59 PM | #51 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 898
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I only saw the first two episodes of Zi-O myself and one of the major positives I will give it, at least from what very little I’ve seen of it so far, is the show’s soundtrack. It’s pretty stuck inside my mind long afterwards.
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03-11-2022, 09:29 PM | #52 |
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,481
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Glad to know he isn't just like that, but we're actually gonna figure out why Sougo is detached from others it seems.
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03-11-2022, 09:42 PM | #53 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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My schedule's all over the place today, and I'm not going to get a chance to crack into Episode 2 for another couple hours, so let me spend a few minutes talking about something from the first episode that... it's maybe nothing, I'm probably reading too much into it, but Fish's reminiscence got me thinking about it again. Decade was a series that was about the stories of Heisei: the tones and morals and drama. It was an anniversary series that interrogated fandoms, and talked about why we carry these stories with us, long after they've ended. With Zi-O... it seems to be about the difference between history and History; how the people that we mythologize are so much messier than the stories we tell about them. Zi-O's doing that with how it handles its Legend Rider content. It isn't (Seemingly! From one episode!) about the cast running through a synopsis of a series; it's having Sougo meet Build and Cross-Z. It's the difference between being told about heroes or actually hearing from them directly. Like, that's an interest of mine, hearing individual perspectives instead of getting majority talking points, and it feels like Zi-O could share that same interest. Quote:
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(That said! It's fairly typical, to my memory, for these threads to start off with a lot of overview-style comments. That tends to peter out as we get into more contained storytelling. Things will feel a lot less spoiler-y in a day or two.) The music is something that rarely sticks out to me, and I don't love trying to write about it, but I can always count on a few people to more than cover that end of the series for me. Feel free to chime in if certain songs make their debut!
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03-12-2022, 12:55 AM | #54 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 2 - “BEST MATCH 2017”
It’s an episode that’s super dedicated to plot mechanics and series mythology, about half of which I outright didn’t understand. Thankfully, it stays away from the aspects of Sougo’s personality I really disliked from last time, so it’s an overall decent episode. The character relationships were solid, the action was fun, and the Legend Rider stuff was well executed. As twenty-odd minutes of tokusatsu, it was fine. Like, our core trio is one I sort of get now? (Mostly because no one talked about Friendly Fascism or whatever, but still!) Tsukuyomi and Geiz are both very Let’s See Where This Goes about the whole future tyranny thing, which is maybe less pragmatic than I’d’ve expected (despite Geiz’z stated desire to immediately murder Sougo; not quite a Best Match yet), but refreshingly generous. I guess when you’re surrounded by time machines/Mazines, there’s no real hurry? Better to wait and be certain. And Sougo’s whole Helpful Idiot routine is… god, it’s okay? I liked it okay. He’s not anything special, which is an aspect to his personality that I find the most compelling -slash- agreeable. Him as some well-meaning but hapless everyman? That’s something I can really get behind. There’s a point when he’s doing the Vortex Time Break and all of the normal genius equations are now rudimentary and, at times, not technically math. It’s a smart move, that kind of lead Rider. It’s disarming, for one, in that it’s enormously difficult to hate on someone so dopey. It’s churlish to call someone out for personality defects when they’re already so disadvantaged, you know? And for another thing, it allows the stronger personalities of our guests to provide stability and growth for our Clueless Conqueror. Build and Cross-Z! They’re very fun in this episode. Certainly acting as a beacon for this show’s odd couple Riders, and only mostly making the new show feel slighter in comparison. (Like, dang, I don’t know if giving Sento and Banjou so much screentime is great for establishing how cool your new leads are! Tough to measure up!) They’re fun to have around, even if they’re basically comedy relief. That’s okay! Them two kids are real funny together! It’s just, boy, mostly didn’t understand the time travel shenanigans in this one? Like, I do not get the Altering Time aspect of this story – and the mechanics behind it – even a little. Like, Sento is now and always has been Takumi? How– how does that even work? How does the world not end multiple times over? Why is no one horrified at that outcome? Is this the status quo for these characters now? I don’t understand the very convoluted explanation this show gave me! The Time Jackers are a little bit easier to come to terms with, because they’re just, like, villainous Geiz and Tsukuyomi? They’re trying to undo Oma Zi-O’s rise, but just to secure the throne for someone else. I don’t – even slightly – understand how creating random Another Rider monsters helps accomplish that, but I am at least clear on what their objective is. This plot, for the series… it’s Time Nonsense again, unfortunately, obviously. If I focus on character motivations (except Sougo’s!), there’s clarity to the storytelling. Geiz and Tsukuyomi want to avert a terrible future. Woz wants to ensure the future, terrible or otherwise. The Time Jackers want to take the future for themselves (?). Sougo is caught between these various competing agendas. (This is a role for Sougo that I like!) I get it, and I’m onboard. But every single time someone tried to explain the minutiae of how these goals were going to be achieved, within a scene, I completely lost the thread. I can’t tell if the characters don’t know how to explain it, or the writer doesn’t know how to explain it. It was my least-favorite part of this episode. The rest was good, though. Or, good enough, at least. — KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 2.5 - “RULES OF THE WORLD” LITERALLY THE NEXT THING THAT GETS TALKED ABOUT. Jesus. I don’t know if this was a huge help! It’s two-thirds clever details that make the previous episode’s plot more coherent (only one Build at a time, you can only defeat Another Rider with that Rider’s powers) and one-third A Wizard Did It. It– it really wants to have its nerd cake and eat it, too. It wants to have firm guidelines about what the cause and effect of these time alteration stories are, while still relegating a random amount of cause and effect questions to snarky avoidance. Like, this is the problem with Time Nonsense. You only get a certain amount of narrative waffling, and you can’t overuse it, or none of it is worth investing in. You can’t ask people to pay attention to weird details and complicated causality, and then at least once an episode be like We’re Just Trying To Have Fun Here Brainiac. I don’t know how great this show’s going to work for me! This random-ass Certain Things Don’t Matter But We’ll Tell You Which Ones Later shit is going to super-duper get on my nerves! Sort of freaking out over this “explainer”!
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03-12-2022, 01:05 AM | #55 |
Reiei
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 3,691
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Thankfully, in my opinion, Build's thing with how it handles time is the worst part, so we're finally past that now.
It's... Adult Circumstances as our dear Shirakura puts it. Also, did you like Sento and Banjou transforming? Great! Savor it. |
03-12-2022, 01:09 AM | #56 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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This, I honestly don't care about? I don't need to see the Legend Riders actually Henshin. Hanging out with our cast is more than enough for me. Suit appearances are easy! Actor appearances are far more precious.
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03-12-2022, 01:11 AM | #57 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,572
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Sento and Banjo are very much "there" for these episodes and I don't really mind that much? Purely because them being there for the introduction to everything works well since we just got off their show. We don't need anything too meaningful.
I know the "turn your brain off" is a bit of an overused excuse but as i've learned with a lot of time travel stuff via watching.. uh... time travel is not a straight line nor should be approached like one! So it might be best to just go with the flow as one puts it. Anyway, time for my bit, in which I'm only including the links and not hyperlinking them because I don't want a giant grey block on my posts. This time we can get Excite as we watch the preview to the start of the next arc! Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 3 Preview: Last edited by Enchilada645; 03-12-2022 at 01:34 AM.. |
03-12-2022, 01:19 AM | #58 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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I know the "turn your brain off" is a bit of an overused excuse but as i've learned with a lot of time travel stuff via watching.. uh... time travel is not a straight line nor should be approached like one! So it might be best to just go with the flow as one puts it.
I actually want to spend more time with our core trio/quartet, so that's promising, at least!
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03-12-2022, 01:31 AM | #59 |
Precure enthusiast
Join Date: Dec 2021
Location: Amongst the Cosmos
Posts: 304
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Episode 2 time <3
-Geiz's proper introduction! I love that his suit has more of a digital watch aesethic than Zi-O's being more of a analog watch. Also love how he's already so done with Time Jacker nonsense, he's got a mission to fufill damnit! He doesn't get to do much in this episode since the show already got its hands full trying to explain this season's gimmick, but I do enjoy the bits we did get of him this episode. .......Speaking of season gimmicks, we are properly(?) introduced to the Time Jackers, Another Riders, and the way our tributes/forms will work in Zi-O! The Time Jackers' deal is really fun idea: offering up contracts to lengthen the "time" of those struck with tradegy, in exchange of becoming a King candiate for them. As for our tributes and Ride Armor, I'd like to go back to a quote from the opening's intro: The legacy of the Heisei Kamen Riders has carried on throughout the era. And now they pass their power onto the next generation! I remember what I expected from this quote when I heard it in EP 1 for the first time: Like Decade, Sougo would probably have to prove himself somehow (to the original Rider? Time itself lol? idk) that he was worthy of that Rider's power before he would he be able to use it. What we actually have is something much more.....um......different? Those Ridewatches sure do work in mysterious ways! -Bulid's definitely one of the weaker tribute arcs, having to be the "tutorial level" and all. Nice seeing our Best Match duo again (it's been ages since I've seen anything Bulid), but I felt like they didn't really do much here? I wouldn't say its a wasted appearance or anything, just a bit underutilized in my opinion. -Sougo! Congratulations(????) on your first step towards conquest! I feel like we kinda breezed through the whole "Using the Ridewatch effectively erases the existence of that Rider!" thing, considering its implications? (Though probably intentional on Woz's part, lol). *Slightly* a bit more tolerable here since they're leaning into the well-meaning but not quite bright hero here, but he's still kinda an enigma for me at this stage. -This might suck, but I cannot stress enough how important Rule #3 is. I think Zi-O's time stuff is something where you just have to take it at face value and roll with whatever they give you? If you start thinking about Zi-O's timeline too hard, you'll end up in a labyrinth, and I'm not quite sure you'll be able to get out, even with our help lol. (............Also can we talk about how oddly adorable Another Bulid running up and hugging Banjou since theyre a Best Match, as well as Sento's jealousy, it's great. I can't remember if the rest of the Another Riders have little moments where they emulate the original Rider or is it an early-series quirk where they don't have all the rules set down on how these guys work yet lol) |
03-12-2022, 01:40 AM | #60 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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This might suck, but I cannot stress enough how important Rule #3 is. I think Zi-O's time stuff is something where you just have to take it at face value and roll with whatever they give you? If you start thinking about Zi-O's timeline too hard, you'll end up in a labyrinth, and I'm not quite sure you'll be able to get out, even with our help lol.
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